I think where it plays a role is actually more in interfering with the process of rehabilitation. As I mentioned earlier, even just being able to get gainful employment...the people I see have tremendous difficulty getting any type of a job upon release from incarceration. Over time, if there are people who know them well, who can see the whole person rather than just the offence and see how they've changed, they may get a job. With other people, it could be a lifetime process, or at least it could go until they get a pardon, when they can actually fill out an application and where it says, “Do you have a criminal record?”, they don't have to report that.
So I think it's more that it interferes with that.
The other thing is the motivation. As I said earlier, it sends a very strong message that there's nothing you can ever do that will make anyone believe you have changed. That's a very, very discouraging kind of message. The whole business of labelling theory says that if you call people something often enough and you define them a certain way, they begin to believe that themselves. If you believe you can't change, you stop trying to change.